State Duma votes to strip lawmaker of immunity

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, February 19 (Itar-Tass) - The State Duma lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday voted to strip A Just Russia lawmaker Oleg Mikheyev of immunity. The house voted 297-59, with four abstentions.

Prosecutor general Yuri Chaika asked the lawmakers to consider the issue in late January.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office /PGO/, the investigator suspects Mikheyev of involvement in the takeover of 14 real estate facilities belonging to the Volgograd engine-making plant worth over 500 million roubles, and attempted theft of 2.1 billion roubles from Promsvyazbank. Also, the lawmaker is accused of obstructing justice.

Mikheyev stated his innocence. In a letter to the lower chamber, he asked not to support the prosecutor general’s request. "The very possibility to dismiss the opinions of hundreds of thousands voters, by stripping a lawmaker of immunity, who was elected by people, discredits not only the institution of the State Duma, but also the whole Russian political and legal system," he wrote.